Troffer-based fluorescent light fixtures are ubiquitously found in commercial and institutional settings, such as, e.g., within schools, offices, hospitals, and retail stores. Accordingly, the advent of the fluorescent light tube fixtures has shown to be a significant improvement over incandescent light fixtures within the prior art. The traditional fluorescent light tube fixture comprising fluorescent light tubes and electronic ballast have common drawbacks of high power consumption, short service life, and a fragile structure. Another drawback is the use of rare-earth and other toxic phosphors needed to generate light. Environmental waste hazards from the phosphors may accompany when the tubes that have ceased to function require disposal.
More recently, with the advent of efficient solid state lighting sources, these troffers have been used with light emitting diodes (LEDs), as an example. LEDs are solid state devices that convert electric energy to light and generally comprise one or more active regions of semiconductor material interposed between oppositely doped semiconductor layers. When a bias is applied across the doped layers, holes and electrons are injected into the active region where they recombine to generate light. Light is produced in the active region and emitted from surfaces of the LED.
An LED fixture may provide numerous advantages over the traditional fluorescent light tube troffer. The electrical power requirements for LED lighting are quite low in comparison to most other forms of lighting, thereby saving energy and increasing efficiency in comparison to other lighting forms. Moreover, the present invention eliminates the need for relatively high step-up voltages, as it is not necessary to ionize gases within a tube, as is done in fluorescent lighting. This greatly reduces the potential hazard of such a system, as the voltage required is considerably lower than the conventional supply voltage, e.g., 110 to 115 volts, in most areas. In addition, LEDs can have a significantly longer operational lifetime of between 50,000 and 70,000 hours. The increased efficiency and extended lifetime of LEDs are attractive to many lighting suppliers and has resulted in LED lights being used in place of conventional lighting in many different applications. Another important advantage of an LED light assembly is the elimination of the potential danger of breakage of the glass seen in a fluorescent light tube.
In some cases, it may be desirable to replace or retrofit existing troffer-style fixtures, which may have fluorescent light bulbs with newer LED emitters. There are a number of patents describing an LED-base light source as a way to replace fluorescent light tubes. LED replacement tubes typically contain a transparent tube with LEDs mounted inside the tube and comprising dual end caps, wherein each end cap is mounted at a respective end of the light tube. Both end caps each typically contain a pair of conductive prongs functioning as connectors so that the tube may be inserted into respective sockets within a fluorescent tube troffer, for example, thereby electronically communicating with the electronic ballast system of the fluorescent troffer. These LED replacement light tubes are therefore intended for retrofitting into an existing fluorescent light fixture.
However, it may be a challenge to design a system which allows for quick and easy universal retrofitting of a variety of existing troffer light fixtures. Traditional fluorescent tube troffer may be complex in its assembly, and may require an electronic ballast to power the fluorescent tubes in addition to extensive wiring required to connect the electronic ballast to the socket holders at both ends of the troffer. In addition, different light fixture manufacturers may position holes in a variety of configurations, and existing prior art assemblies that utilizes these holes for installation may not be adaptable and it may be very difficult to customize to the same dimensions of the holes of the existing light fixture. Therefore, there is a need for a troffer fixture universal in design, size and shape of a traditional fluorescent light tube fixture while offering compatible electronics to power LEDs as its light source.